Harvey Milk. Frida Kahlo. Liberace. Increasingly, Hollywood is producing more films about LGBT figures. But Tinseltown has only scratched the surface of stories of those who have made breakthroughs in the LGBT rights movement as well as those who have made major contributions to the spheres of entertainment, fashion, politics, and beyond. To determine who deserves a place on the silver screen, The Advocate asked the experts: the filmmakers whose works are screening at this year’s Outfest, the premier LGBT film festival of Los Angeles, which kicks off Thursday. From biblical figures to closeted movie stars, here are their dream biopic subjects and the actors they envision in these roles.

Chely Wright, played by Evan Rachel Wood“I’d make a biopic about Chely Wright, one of the first out lesbians in country music. I’m fascinated by the socially conservative world of country — the same fan base that practically erased the Dixie Chicks from history for vocally opposing the war in Iraq — and can understand why she felt she had to repress her sexuality for so long. My lead would be Evan Rachel Wood.”

— Joni Lefkowitz is the cowriter-producer of Life Partners and the executive producer of Chasing Life on ABC Family.